HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 536
D EU T ERO N O MY 7
4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the
Lord alone.* 5 And you must love the Lord your
God with all your heart, all your soul, and all
your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves
wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to
your children. Talk about them when you are at
home and when you are on the road, when you
are going to bed and when you are getting up.
8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your
forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
— promises —
from God
“The Lord your God . . .
is the faithful God who
keeps his covenant for a
thousand generations and
lavishes his unfailing love
on those who love him and
obey his commands.”
D E U T E R O N O M Y 7:9
10 “The Lord your God will soon bring you
into the land he swore to give you when he
made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. 11 The houses will be
richly stocked with goods you did not produce.
You will draw water from cisterns you did not
dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive
trees you did not plant. When you have eaten
your fill in this land, 12 be careful not to forget
the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the
land of Egypt. 13 You must fear the Lord your
God and serve him. When you take an oath, you
must use only his name.
14 “You must not worship any of the gods of
neighboring nations, 15 for the Lord your God,
who lives among you, is a jealous God. His
anger will flare up against you, and he will
wipe you from the face of the earth. 16 You must
not test the Lord your God as you did when you
complained at Massah. 17 You must diligently
obey the commands of the Lord your God—all
the laws and decrees he has given you. 18 Do
what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so
all will go well with you. Then you will enter
and occupy the good land that the Lord swore
to give your ancestors. 19 You will drive out all
the enemies living in the land, just as the Lord
said you would.
20 “In the future your children will ask you,
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‘What is the meaning of these laws, decrees,
and regulations that the Lord our God has commanded us to obey?’
21 “Then you must tell them, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us
out of Egypt with his strong hand. 22 The Lord did
miraculous signs and wonders before our eyes,
dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people. 23 He brought us out of
Egypt so he could give us this land he had sworn
to give our ancestors. 24 And the Lord our God
commanded us to obey all these decrees and to
fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day. 25 For
we will be counted as righteous when we obey all
the commands the Lord our God has given us.’
The Privilege of Holiness
“When the Lord your God brings you into
the land you are about to enter and occupy,
he will clear away many nations ahead of you:
the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites,
Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven
nations are greater and more numerous than
you. 2 When the Lord your God hands these
nations over to you and you conquer them,
you must completely destroy* them. Make no
treaties with them and show them no mercy.
3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not
let your daughters and sons marry their sons
and daughters, 4 for they will lead your children
away from me to worship other gods. Then the
anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he
will quickly destroy you. 5 This is what you must
do. You must break down their pagan altars
and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their
Asherah poles and burn their idols. 6 For you are
a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God.
Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God
has chosen you to be his own special treasure.
7 “The Lord did not set his heart on you and
choose you because you were more numerous
than other nations, for you were the smallest of
all nations! 8 Rather, it was simply that the Lord
loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had
sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord
rescued you with such a strong hand from your
slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 9 Understand, therefore,
that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is
the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a
thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his
commands. 10 But he does not hesitate to punish
and destroy those who reject him. 11 Therefore,
you must obey all these commands, decrees,
and regulations I am giving you today.
7
6:4 Or The Lord our God is one Lord; or The Lord our God, the
Lord is one; or The Lord is our God, the Lord is one. 7:2 The
Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of
things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by
giving them as an offering; also in 7:26.